Moving Forward

So, surprise surprise, it turns out that when you spend a few weeks trying out new saddles on your horse and riding tentatively, trying to figure out whether the saddle is working or not, your horse may decide that they don't actually have to listen to you.

For the last few weeks, when Kachina has stopped or done pretty much anything, I've been like "What's wrong honey? Is this saddle hurting you? Don't worry, I'll listen to you!"

Kachina has now decided that she gets to call the shots and stop whenever she wants. I can't really blame her for coming to this conclusion, but I still had to put an end to it quickly.

It started at the beginning of a trail ride yesterday. We were leaving the yard, walking away from her pasture buddy and into an intense headwind, when Kachina went "nope!" and stopped dead. I gently encouraged her forward, and she did it again a few steps later, and then again. She went on to do it periodically for the next half hour. My gentle encouragements turned into firm boots as I realized what was happening and that she was just testing me. I think I finally got my point across and the second half of the ride was much better.

Turns out that just sitting in a unicorn saddle isn't enough to make magic happen, you have to actually ride! :-P  The saddle search is over, time to get back to business!